Get Ready For California's New "Automatic Renewal" Rules

California recently amended its Automatic Purchase Renewals law. The amended statute - effective July 1st -- require marketers to provide consumers of automatic renewal or continuous service offers with more information and easier ways to terminate. Because California's rules touch most marketers and auto-renew programs draw a lot of scrutiny from state and federal regulators, we want to provide you with a top-line on the changes. Here's what you need to know.

What are automatic renewal programs?

Think subscriptions, like that bag of pet food you have delivered every month, the Spanish language teaching app, or that publication you have delivered to your in-box every day. Auto-renew programs allow companies to provide goods and services to a consumer on an ongoing basis unless and until she cancels her plan. They are a form of "negative option" program. Prior to cancellation, the marketer considers the consumer to have consented to the new goods and services, as